The Exhibitor (Nov 1948-Feb 1949)

THE EXHIBITOR NT3 Omaha Fred Fedjar, MGM office managerhead booker, has been promoted to salesman. Mrs. Evelyn Cannon succeeds him in the combination job. As a special tribute to tne late Father Flanagan, founder. Boys Town, MGM presented the world premiere of ‘City Of Little Men” at the Paramount. A community house will be erected at Lewis, la. J.E. Loftus is the architect. Lete King is chairman, community building committee. Warner salesmen Leon Mendelson and Paul Fine, Columbia, represented the Omaha group at the Colosseum meeting in Chicago. ... Frank Scott bought the Gem, Moville, la., fromG.M. Ryle. R.W. Brown is marking his 39th year of operation of the Phoenix, Neola, la. ...The theatre was used to combat Hallowe’en vandalism at Kearney, Neb. The Fort put on its annual Hallowe’en show in cooperation with the police department for youngsters who signed pledges that they engaged in no des¬ tructive pranks. Elmer E. Gailey, 59, former exhibi¬ tor at Wayne, Neb., died while deep sea fishing near his home at San Diego, Cal. Hoodlumism in Omaha theatres re¬ sulted in a serious eye injury to a girl patron. A tinfoil wad, shot by a boy, struck her. Phoenix The Orpheum was robbed of $295 by an unmasked stickup man. It was the second time within three months that the Paramount Nace house had been looted. The Fox-Tucson’ s Mickey Mouse Club awarded a lifetime pass to all its shows to eight-year-old Jackie Mc¬ Alister, the 1, 000, 000th child to attend the club’ s weekly shows. The new manager of the Alden, Globe, is Clifford A. Reid, who was formerly manager, RoseMafy, Santa Monica. With the arrival of Reid, acting manager Gene Hollis returned to his regular post at the Vista. Joe Woods reopened his Rowena, Chandler, Ariz. ... Cowboy star Gene Autry will open an exclusive western apparel shop on the corner of Central Avenue and Adams Street. ... Lew King is the new m.c. of the Fox Leaders' Club Saturday morning shows at the Fox. St. Louis Franny Krause, cashier, MGM ex¬ change, returned from a New York va¬ cation. H. S. Nesbitt, city salesman. Uni¬ versal-international, is now a proud grandpa by a recent birth to his daughterinlaw. ... On Nov. 14 Geral¬ dine Milner, biller, U-I, will be married. Mike Lee is the new branch manager' at Eagle Lion. He is well-known and has been branch manager in Des Moines for some time. Branch manager Mariner, United Artists, was travelling in Illinois. Mrs. Faye Zeller, a housewife, won a $1,000 diamond ring by crawling on her hands and knees through an exas¬ perated movie audience to retrieve her shoes planted there as a stunt on the ‘Teople are Funny” radio show, broad¬ cast from the Kiel Auditorium Opera House. Mrs. Zeller, clad in a pair of rubber hip boots, was taken to the Ambassador. With the aid of a flash¬ light, she began her search among an audience, which was unaware of the stunt. Seen on Film Row recently were; Bill Collins, De Soto, Mo. ; Eddie Rosecan, Hannibal, Mo. ; Frank Fenger, Morrissa, Ill.; Ed Clark, Metropolis, Ill.; Schneider, Dixon, Mo. , and Lee Norton, Sullivan, Ill. Alyne Schimmer left Screen Guild to get married to Ed Weber. Mrs. Dolly Gentry, formerly with United Artists, has taken her place. “Jimmy” Granger was in the Republic office. ... Til Dickson, Crystal City, Mo. , returned after several months in Phoenix, Ariz. Salt Lake City Theatres receive eight per cent of each dollar spent by convention delegates in Salt Lake City, accord¬ ing to the findings of a survey an¬ nounced by Mrs. Winifred P. Ralls, convention manager. Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce. San Antonio The Majestic, through arrangements with Telenews, is showing highlights of a Douthwest Conference football game each week. . .Eph Charninsky, head. Southern Theatres, announced that a complete new front is being installed at the Prince. ... Vis itors to the Clasa-Mohme and Azteca, Latin Ameri¬ can film exchanges, included: Julian Suarez, S and S Theatres, Midland and Odessa, Tex. ; Arnaldo Ramirez, Mission, Rio, Tex. ; Miguel Delgado, Nacional, Crystal City, Tex., and Amador Candelas, Austin, Tex. Among the exhibitors testifying be¬ fore a Congressional committee in¬ vestigating alleged unfair and monopo¬ listic trade practices in Houston, Tex. , were Hans Smith, Irving, Tex. ; J.R. Euler, Tri-States Theatres Cir¬ cuit; R.B. Weatherall, Huntsville, Tex.; Rubin Frels, Victoria, and Colonel H.A. Cole, representing Allied Theatre Owners of Texas. G. A. Lucchese, owner-operator of a group of Spanish language houses, announced that his new 2, 500 seat Alameda will be ready for opening in December. ... Martha Davis, secretary to Interstate Theatres city manager George M. Watson, returned from a vacation spent at Oklahoma City. Visitors to the Mexican films ex¬ change, Clasa-Mohme and Azteca, in¬ cluded: P.V. Williams, Roy, Munday, Tex. ; Paul J. Poag, city manager, Del Rio, Tex. , for Robb and Rowley Cir¬ cuit; M.F. Garcia, Azteca, Rio Grand City, Tex.; B. M. Bausell, R. N. Smith Circuit, Mission, Tex. ; Wesley Blank¬ enship, Wallace Theatres, Lubbock, Tex. ; Stephan Fraga, new owner and manager, Azteca, Natalia, Tex. ; Dave Smason, Vic and Karnes, Karnes City, Tex.; Julian Suarez, S and S Theatres, Midland and Odessa, Tex., and Ignacio Luna, Luna, Crystal City, Tex. R.S. Starling, owner and operator, Twilite Drive-In, San Angelo, Tex., announced plans for the building of a second drive-in, to be known as the Starlight there. ... Lyton W. “Lew” Burke, stage manager. Worth, Fort Worth, Tex., died.... A blaze totally destroyed the Texan, Bremond, Tex., which was owned and operated by Fred Bielamonwicz, who estimated his loss at about $35 , 000 . . . . Mart Cole is building a drive-in near Richmond, Tex. , with the Jefferson Amusement Company having a fourth interest. Cole has also started construction of a standard house at Sugar! and, Tex. ... S. G. Fry, owner of theatres in Tyler and Grand Saline, Tex. , was recovering from an appendix operation. Ellis Ford, manager, Delman, Hous¬ ton, Tex. , is the proud father of a baby daughter^ Kathleen. . . .Loraine Valdez, Ritz, Houston, Tex. , saved some $500 when three local youths attempted to rob her at pistol point in her cage. She refused to give up the sum. . . . Russe 11 Smith has beer, named manager, Alto, Alto, Tex.... Wallace Walthall, National screen Service, Dallad, was a recent visitor at Rosenberg, Tex. Differences between union projec¬ tionists who walked out of the State, Plaza, and Ritz, owned and operated by Theatre Enterprises, Gainesville, Tex., still remained unsettled. The operators have been on strike since June 19. R.N. Smith, president, R.N. Smith Theatres, Inc. , announced the sale of the Lantext, Llano, Tex., to M. J. Wootan. Wootan is also owner of the Llano, which he recently purchased. A son, Michael Scott, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Norman Schwartz. Father is manager, Aztec. ... Wal ter Tinney jr. , is the new projectionist, Texas He comes from Bryan, Tex. , where he was employed by the Schulmann Thea¬ tres _ Milt Linder, National Screen Service, Dallas, was a recent visitor. Bonita LaFeber is new cashier at the Aztec, replacing Louise Griffin, resigned. ... Eph Charninsky, head. Southern Theatre Company, attended the recent opening of the new 1,000seat Lynn, Gonzales, Tex. November 10, 1948